Brave Princess
by mockingbird616
Summary: Bellamy comforts Clarke after she kills Finn. Set after 2x08


Lexa's eyes widened as she saw a bloody knife in Clarke's hands. She knew her people saw it too. Screams of anger and resentment roared through the crowd.

"It is done," Lexa announced, stopping her people from attacking.

Indra stared at Clarke with disgust, as she had looked forward to watching the young boy suffer.

Clarke stood there, numb. Finn's lifeless body was strapped to the tree in front of her. Raven's screams echoed through the camp, but she didn't hear a thing. She began to walk back to camp, her movements robotic as if she didn't have any control over her body.

 _He's dead…I killed him._

The thought repeatedly rang in her ears.

The Grounders moved out of her way, creating a path back to Camp Jaha, slightly scared of the young woman.

Everyone in Camp Jaha looked at her in shock. The Chancellor's daughter, still a child, just murdered the man she loved.

Raven was still sobbing on the ground, Bellamy's arms wrapped tight around her.

Bellamy had a feeling that Clarke would do that. He knew that the only way to save Finn was to kill him. He was proud of her.

 _Brave princess_ , he thought.

As Clarke neared, Bellamy saw the haunted look in her eyes. Her face was otherwise void of emotion. He wanted to run over to her, right then and there, and give her the comfort she needed, but he didn't want to leave Raven alone.

Just as he had that thought, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to see the engineer, Wick, who he noticed always hanging around Raven.

Knowing that the young mechanic would be in good hands, he quickly transferred Raven into Wick's arms.

He moved towards the gate, as Clarke stopped to stand in front of it. He motioned for the guards to open it.

As he walked towards Clarke, he noticed that she was shaking, tears threatening to escape her clear, blue eyes. His pace quickened until he was standing right in front of her.

No words were exchanged before Clarke collapsed into his arms, both of her hands coming up to clench the material of his shirt.

Bellamy lowered them to the ground. One of his hands clutched her waist, bringing her closer to his body. The other nestled in her hair, brushing through the blonde, tangled strands.

He knew that she had begun to cry when he felt her tears soak his shirt.

The occupants of Camp Jaha looked at them with sadness and pity. Most of them didn't blame Clarke for what she did. They were just shocked that she, of all people, would have the guts to do it.

Abby had tears streaming down her face. She cried for the loss of a child…and the loss of her child. The whole time at Camp Jaha, she believed that her daughter, her child, was just that…a child. She didn't want to believe that Clarke had grown up and moved on without her. Now, she finally understood.

She moved to go comfort Clarke, like Bellamy was doing, but Kane grabbed her arm before she could take two steps.

She turned to glare at him.

He just shook his head.

She sighed sadly, knowing that Clarke didn't need her right now. She needed the person who understood her more than anyone. She needed Bellamy.

Clarke nestled her head deeper into Bellamy's chest. She never wanted to leave his embrace. She felt safer. The whole world seemed to fade.

She knew she'd soon have to face the Arkers, Kane, her mom, and…Raven.

Thinking about Raven brought on a new wave of tears.

 _I just killed Raven's only family. How could I face her?_

She then realized that she not only lost Finn, but she lost one of her best friends as well.

As if he could sense her thoughts, Bellamy pulled her tighter against him, if that was even possible.

"I've got you," he whispered gently.

Despite the horror and sadness that consumed her, she smiled because she knew the one person she trusted, needed,…loved, was going to always be right next to her.

They sat in that embrace for a few more minutes before she decided that it was time to face everyone.

Clarke reluctantly pulled herself out of Bellamy's arms.

"Thank you," she whispered.

He just looked at her sadly, upset that she even needed the comfort at all.

 _She should have never been put in this position in the first place_ , he thought. _I should never have given Finn the gun._

Clarke began to walk through the gate, Bellamy trailing behind her in a way that a guard would do for a princess. Well, in this case, his princess.

As Raven saw her walk through, she pushed herself out of Wick's embrace.

She briskly walked up to Clarke, her hand in a fist, before hitting Clarke across the face.

Before she could do any more damage, Wick wrapped his arms around her, trapping her arms beneath his.

Clarke brought a hand gently to her face, though the pain wasn't nearly as painful as Raven's next words.

"How could you? You killed him! Why couldn't you have done as I asked and killed the commander? I thought you loved him!" Raven yelled, angry tears streaming down her face. "His blood is on your hands!"

Before she could hear any more of Raven's verbal abuse, Bellamy quickly guided her away.

After a couple minutes of walking, Bellamy ushered her into what she then realized was his tent.

Once both of them were emerged completely in the tent, Bellamy turned to Clarke, moving his hand up to cradle her face.

"Are you okay?" he asked, urgently, running his fingers across the bruise forming on her cheek.

She inhaled sharply as his finger prodded a rather tender part of her face.

"Yeah," she said quietly.

Bellamy knew she wasn't, but decided not to press on the subject too much.

Bellamy just stood there with his hand still on her face. Clarke didn't do anything to stop it. She moved her eyes up to meet his. When their eyes met, it was like they were the only two people in the universe. Time just…stopped.

Their faces moved closer to each other, their lips an inch apart, before a loud clang outside snapped them out of a trance.

Bellamy cleared his throat, stepping back, feeling incredibly awkward.

"I'll let you clean up," he exclaimed. "I'll come back to check on you in a few minutes."

He exited the tent.

 _What were you thinking? She loves Finn_ , he thought, internally berating himself.

Clarke still stood in the tent. She couldn't understand what just happened. She moved to run a hand over her face, but before the appendage could come in contact with her face, she saw a red substance covering her hand. Blood. Finn's blood.

She staggered backward, falling to the ground as if she could get away from her own hand.

In her fright, she spotted a tub of clean water in the corner.

Hastily, she crawled to it, dipping her hands into the icy, cold liquid. She began to scrub her hands through her sobs. She scrubbed and scrubbed, but the blood was still there.

Loud cries ripped from her throat.

Her hands were scrubbed raw, but she didn't feel the pain.

Minutes passed by, but she didn't cease.

Red was the only thing she could see.

Suddenly, her hands were ripped apart by Bellamy, who had heard her cries as he came back from talking to Abby.

Her back crashed into Bellamy's chest, her sobs of protest ringing in his ear.

"Shhh. You're okay. You're okay," he soothed.

"There's so much blood," she whimpered, as she thrashed in his arms.

"Shh. It's okay. Let me help you."

Clarke slowly began to calm down.

Bellamy breathed a sigh of relief.

He cautiously removed his arms from around her arms and waist before moving them to her shoulders, guiding her over to his make-shift bed.

Once she was seated, he quickly grabbed a piece of cloth before moving to the basin to get some water. He shook his head sadly as he saw red-tainted water.

He set the cloth down.

"I'll be right back," he spoke quietly, lifting up the basin before leaving the tent.

He quickly went to get more water, discarding the bloody water into a bush on the edge of the camp.

Bellamy walked back into his tent to see Clarke exactly the way where he left her a few minutes earlier. Setting the basin back in its original place, he grabbed the ratty piece of cloth, saturating it with the clean, blue water.

He slowly went back to Clarke, moving into a kneeling position directly in front of her.

When he gently grabbed her hand, she flinched, pulling her hand back.

"Hey, no worries. I'm just going to clean your hands, okay?" Bellamy soothed, giving her knee a comforting squeeze.

She gave a slight nod of approval.

Cautiously, he grabbed her hand, pulling it towards him. There was a comforting silence between them as he gently began to rub the blood and other grime off her hands.

It stayed like that for quite a while. Neither of them made an effort to speak. Clarke was thinking too intensely and Bellamy just didn't know what to say.

All of a sudden, when Bellamy was almost done cleaning both of her hands, Clarke spoke.

"I lied to him," Clarke announced, regret prominent in her voice, "Finn."

Bellamy's head snapped up to look at her face.

"The last words I said to him were a lie," she continued. It seemed like she was going to start crying again, but she didn't which surprised Bellamy.

"What did you tell him?" Bellamy asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"I told him…I told him…" She paused, taking a deep breath. "I told him I loved him."

Bellamy looked at her in shock and confusion.

"I told him what he wanted, maybe even needed, to hear."

"You didn't lie to him. There will always be a part of you that still loves him…just not in the way that he thought you did."

She nodded warily.

Bellamy started, "I think it's ti—"

"I fell in love with someone else," she confessed.

He froze. Was it Jasper? Maybe it's that guy from Agro Station.

Clarke began inching her way closer, unbeknownst to Bellamy.

"I mean I thought I loved him, but then Raven came and I left him. Then I started falling for someone else. It was all so complicated."

As she talked, she moved towards Bellamy so her face was inches from his Bellamy's face was down so he didn't realize how close she was until he looked up at her.

He gulped when he saw how close her lips were to his.

Bellamy moved his eyes to look at her watery, blue eyes before he asked a question he thought he finally knew the answer to.

"Who did you fall in love with?" he asked in a soft, quiet voice.

"You." Her answer was barely a whisper before her lips crashed against his.

It took Bellamy a second before he responded, kissing back with a passion he never felt before.

His hands came up to frame her face, pushing her dirty blonde hair away from her face.

Their lips never strayed from each other as Bellamy moved Clarke onto his lap.

Bellamy suddenly remembered how they get into this position. He ripped his mouth from hers, standing up before pacing across the tent.

"What's wrong?" Clarke asked, scared that maybe he didn't feel the same.

Somehow, Bellamy was able to sense her fear, as he stopped pacing and sat down next to her. He took her hand and looked her straight in the eye.

"Believe me when I say I want this. You have no idea how much I do, but we shouldn't do this now. You're still grieving. I don't want you to regret this in the morning."

Clarke stuttered, trying to protest, only to be shushed by Bellamy.

"One day we'll have our moment. I promise you. Do you understand?"

Clarke nodded with tears in her eyes. Whether they were happy or sad tears, she couldn't say.

Bellamy smiled softly.

"Now why don't you get some rest? It's been a long day."

She hummed in agreement.

"You take the bed. I'll take the floor."

Too tired to protest, Clarke stretched out on the bed.

"Goodnight," she whispered.

"Goodnight," he answered from his position on the floor.

It wasn't long before Clarke heard Bellamy's snores spread through the tent.

As she stared up at the ceiling of the tent, Bellamy's words echoed in her head. _One day we'll have our moment. I promise you._

 _One day_ , she thought. Maybe not tomorrow, or the day after that, but one day. After they get their people back. After they prove to the council that they're not as weak and helpless as they seem to think they are.

"One day," she whispered before she finally succumbed to sleep.


End file.
